Month: November 2017

Trump retweets Britain First videos – time to fightback against racism and capitalism!

Trump and Jayda Fransen

Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, has once again hit the headlines for his Twitter activities. On this occasion he has sent the tiny far right grouping Britain First in to raptures by retweeting videos posted by their deputy leader Jayda Fransen. Not surprisingly this has been warmly welcomed by Britain First, who despite having a large social media following struggle to get more than a few dozen people to their ‘national mobilisations’.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said that Trump was wrong to retweet Britain First saying “hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions”. However no one will forget Theresa May gladly holding hands with Trump, nor the role the Tories and right wing Labour MPs have played in helping to create an atmosphere where the far right can potentially grow.

It is rumoured that Trump will visit the UK some time in 2018. The Socialist Party look forward to being part of the mass movement that will great him in opposition to his agenda that seeks to divide working class people away from the real problem in society, that is the capitalist system that breeds war, racism and poverty in the UK, US and across the world.

Join us to help build a mass socialist movement that will consign Trump, Britain First and their system to the dustbin of history!

We have received the following article from a Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) member in Coventry.

“The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced on Wednesday 16th November that telephony work for new claims to Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) along with general enquiries for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), would be outsourced to Capita.

This is not the first instance of outsourcing vital DWP work to a private company. JSA claims were handed to Capita in 2012, a move that resulted in a failure to meet targets on processing claims. DWP staff even had to go to Capita to clear the backlog!

The decision to outsource ESA new claims to Capita will be disastrous. A huge proportion of ESA claimants suffer with mental health issues and are therefore more vulnerable. If Capita performs as well as it did with JSA claims, then this is likely to have a severe impact on the wellbeing of those who most need support.

This is already beginning to affect the morale of DWP staff too – with many workers fearing either the prospect of losing their jobs, or the stress of a complete change in the roles in which they have been trained in. There is also the issue of staff feeling like they are ‘worthless’, ‘undervalued’ and not doing an important enough job.

For staff in Poole Contact Centre, this truly is a ‘slap in the face’ – along with the planned closure of the office in February 2018, the DWP will also contract out the Income Support work they do!

The PCS union which represents DWP staff has consistently opposed the privatisation of their work, and campaigns for it to be brought back in-house – the way our public services are meant to be operated!”

The Socialist Party echoes this, and we also call for:

• An end to all privatisation of public services – run them for people, not profit!

• No more benefit cuts or sanctions! For the right to a decent living, and support for those who need it!

• An end to austerity! For a £10 an hour minimum wage now and the scrapping of zero-hours contracts!

News has broken this evening that Tory Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has resigned stating that his conduct had ‘fallen short’ of what is expected.

His resignation illustrates once again how weak and fragile the Tory government is – not the ‘strong and stable’ that was promised by Theresa May. The Tories are split over Brexit and are currently relying on the DUP to stay in government. But the Tories won’t just go of their own accord, they need to be forced out.

We need to get them out as soon as possible and campaign for a Corbyn-led Labour government to power on bold socialist policies to fight austerity and capitalism.

A great opportunity to come together and discuss the current situation and what action, programme and policies we need to fight for to get rid of the Tories will come on on 11/12 November at Socialism 2017, a weekend of discussion and debate organised by the Socialist Party. Get your ticket and make sure you are there!

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